Drawing on analyses of two South Park censorship controversies, one surrounding the “Trapped in the Closet” attack on Scientology and Tom Cruise and the other inspired by the “Cartoon Wars” engagement of the Prophet Muhammad cartoon scandal, this chapter discusses the connections between religion and liberal state identity in the contemporary United States. These two case studies imply not only a close juridical relationship between religion and the state, in which each institution works to mask the other’s limit event (the breakdown of religious rhetoric in blasphemy and the breakdown of liberalism in censorship), but also the importance of new media in making that relationship evident, in which the self consciously new media focus of the show’s creators allowed them to publicize and attack what would probably have been hidden in residual media forms. Rather than separate discussion of religion and secular liberal identity, South Park relies on its own cultural capital and a close connection to independent new media producers to expose their symbiotic relationship in U.S. politics. Underscoring fights for free speech by highlighting the hypocritical rhetoric of blasphemy claims, South Park accentuates both. However, the iterative quality of viral media that made the show famous is what allows such a discussion to push past either the editing room or the board room, and begins to suggest possibilities for an “open society” beyond satirical popular culture itself.presented at the annual National Communications Association conference, San Diego, November 2008presented at the annual American Studies Associaiton conference, Albuquerque, October 2008

Drawing on analyses of two South Park censorship controversies, onesurrounding the “Trapped in the Closet” attack on Scientology and Tom Cruise and the other inspired by the “Cartoon Wars” engagement of the Prophet Muhammad cartoon scandal, this paper discusses the connectionsbetween religion and liberal state identity in the contemporary United States.  These two case studies imply not only a close juridicalrelationship between religion and the state, in which each institutionworks to mask the other’s limit event (the breakdown of religious rhetoric in blasphemy and the breakdown of liberalism in censorship), but also the importance of new media in making that relationship evident.  Blogs and video sharing communities like YouTube were essential for the discussion of and protests against Comedy Central’s censorship of South Park, and the self consciously new media focus of the show’s creators allowed them to publicize and attack what would probably have been hidden in residual media forms.Rather than separate discussion of religion and secular liberal identity, this paper will demonstrate how South Park relies on its owncultural capital and a close connection to independent new mediaproducers to reconnect the issues and expose their symbiotic relationship.  Underscoring fights for free speech by attending to the hypocritical rhetoric of blasphemy claims, South Park accentuates both.  However, the iterative quality of viral media that made theshow famous is what allows such a discussion to push past either theediting room or the board room, and itself begins to suggestpossibilities for an “open society” beyond the satire and irony of apopular culture production.